Uranium Fever
by orphann-account
Summary: Waking up in a weird metal container, it's a struggle to adjust to a post-nuclear fallout world, but learning to survive is easier with friendly people.
1. Chapter 1

this idea just... came to me, very early in the morning. very early. super early. this first chap is just kinda an intro kind of thing, i'll def add everyone in the next chapter or the chapter after that idk. also... i haven't finished playing fallout 4. so, just a heads up that i don't know Everything™. i haven't even found my son yet, rip. also first person is weird? and its a lil based on yours truly, but it could be a reader-insert if u squint. i'm just posting this bc i was like... would people like a fallout 4 fic? i dunno. we'll find out, and also i haven't written/posted anything in a while, especially a long fic so wooo here we go, i hope y'all like it! also, the title is a song from the game, and the soundtrack is fire if y'all wanna listen to it. also doesnt? have? a youtuber section? so game crossover here we come

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I wake up slowly, like I would on a normal day. I barely register that I'm awake at first, then slowly become aware of my surroundings as I blink awake.

Wait, where the fuck am I?

I'm in a frozen tube apparently, judging by the temperature and how close the walls are.

My breathing gets faster as I feel my claustrophobia and fear of being buried alive kick in, and I frantically start pushing against the wall in front of me. There's a window in the middle of it, but fear clouds my mind and blocks it from registering anything that could be outside of it.

I find a button on it quickly, and I hit it- luckily, it seemed to be the button that controls the door as the solid metal in front of me lifts open.

I almost fall out of the container, my breathing returning to normal as I take in my surroundings. There are metal containers like the one I was in all round me, but they all seemed to be empty. I look down at myself- I'm wearing a skintight blue suit, with yellow on the edges. Huh.

Suddenly, it all comes flooding back- the nuclear warnings, sprinting to get to the shelter, just barely making it inside, changing into the suit, being stuck inside the metal thing-

I put a hand on the metal container, trying to deal with this new info. Well, I guess if I can't find anyone down here, it's up to me to survive.

I take a deep breath, then start to walk toward the exit of the room. Time to find my way out.

Luckily for me, I seem to be on a singular path, occasionally finding random coffee cups and the like. It's almost like I'm in a video game that wants me to leave the vault, haha.

The first skeleton I come across freaked me out, because ew, but I decided it wouldn't hurt me and I got over it. If there was one skeleton, there were sure to be more, and so I move forward, briefly wondering how they died- and how long I was in that thing if they had time to completely decompose.

Then I come across a gun and a backpack.

I grab the backpack and put it on because hey storage is nice, then look at the gun. "Well, I don't know what I'll come across," I mumble an excuse and grab it. I briefly debate carrying it in my hand or backpack, then decide on my hand because if something pops out at me, I'll be ready.

I continue on my path, occasionally picking up bobby pins or tape or anything helpful. Everything was going fine until I came across my first roach.

I freeze up as I watch the giant bug skitter across the window. "Fuckin' radiation," I mutter, trying to cope with my fear of bugs, and I keep moving. It was on the other side of the glass, it's fine.

Then I encounter another one, and it's not on the other side of a glass window.

I hear it before I see it, and I stop moving before spotting it on the wall a ways away. Well, fuck.

I can feel my heart pounding a million times a minute as I cock the gun, realizing I have 0 prior gun experience. Fuckin' none. Fuck.

It makes its gross hissing noise and I start to creep closer, keeping a close eye on it and the end of the hallway, just in case any others show up.

I can't cuss out loud because it might hear me, but I have a mantra of "fuck" going through my head as I get close enough that aiming won't be a problem.

It hasn't noticed me, so I quickly unload 3 bullets into it, not sure how many it'll take to kill it. It doesn't even have time to move before it drops dead to the ground and the 3 shots are echoing through the hallway.

I hear more skittering at the end of the corridor.

Fuck.

I back up, gun pointed shakily toward the skittering noises. Time to rely on my non-existent instincts.

I see two more roaches enter the corridor, see me, and come straight for me. I can handle two, right?

I aim my gun at the closer one, fire one shot and it's down. Okay, good, doing well. I aim at the second and shoot- fuck, okay, I missed, it's fine it's some distance from me-

That's when it leaps at my face.

I shriek and hit it hard with the gun on instinct, sending the roach flying into the wall with a gross crunch. Well, it's dead too.

In a moment of clarity, I realize that nuclear fallout probably ruined all food sources. Well… this roach is it, then.

I try not to throw up as I remove the meat from the roaches, putting it in a special pocket of nastiness in my backpack, and then I'm on my way.

I encounter a few more roaches along the way to the exit, but I don't fuck up and shoot them quickly, then collect their- ugh- meat. I also grab Stimpaks and ammo along the way- both of which should help me.

I finally make it to the entrance to the vault, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu.

It sees I have to hit a switch to get to the elevator, and so I walk over, quickly disposing of another roach. Ugh. Nasty. I reach for the switch, but it seems I need something to flip it.

I notice something on the ground then, like a- bracelet, or watch or something. Oh, it's a pipboy!

I grab it and put it on, then wipe off the dust. It stutters to life and I grin, pressing it into the button for the way to the elevator to come down.

It comes down shakily, and I jog a bit to get to the elevator- I want to know what it's like outside. I don't even know how long I was in that stupid metal box.

I breathe deep and hit the button, feeling the elevator slowly but steadily move upwards.

Here we go.

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that was a thing right there! again this is just a lil intro, i'll get into leaving and meeting People (youtubers who rnt youtubers in this fic bc there is no internet) in the next chapters and i have no clue where this is going as usual but! it'll probs be about the lil quests and stuff, and then once i actually fuckin find My Son™ (gotta meet my son) then i'll write that into here. unless there's no son in this fic. idk yet. i need guidance an adult help. if u liked this fic pUNCH that like button no im jk not now. i have a tumblr (url is my username on here) if u would like to say hello or fight me or give suggestions!


	2. Chapter 2

wow one thousand (1000) words in 20 days wow im so good at writing! i spend more time on these notes than the fuckin story anyway i wrote this while listening to the soundtrack so listen to the soundtrack if you like... 40's/50's music. mark n everyone'll come in next chapter, i just wanted to get this out there and thEN be like whoop here they are. also im mad part of this story had to do with dyed hair and now mark has to go n change his hair back. smh. im jk it looks good but for this story its red ok? also ty to those who have kudosed or followed or commented or all things (bc this is on a03, ff, and wattpad whoop)!

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 _Well I don't know but I've been told_

 _Uranium ore is worth more than gold_

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You know the saying, "hit me like a brick in the face"? Well, stepping out into the post-apocalyptic world I had once known was so like getting hit with a brick to the face that I was surprised it hadn't actually happened.

The green, colorful, technologically-advanced world I had lived in was completely gone. I guess that's to be expected with nuclear fallout, but… I didn't think it would be this bad. Everything was different ugly shades of brown and tan, and there was debris everywhere. Random broken-down cars and torn fences lay all around, and there was zero greenery around.

Well, what now?

I guess that the only thing I can do is head back… home. I'll see if anything I left at home managed to survive, but something tells me it didn't.

I then realize that there might be other things in this new world besides the gross roaches, and I reload my gun as quietly as I can to make sure I'm ready for… anything new.

I walk back down the path that I had used to get to the vault. If I meet anyone friendly, I'll ask them how long it's been since the bomb had dropped, and what's happened since- that'd probably be pertinent information. I get weird déjà vu from walking back to my home, as if running here in a fear-fueled panic had been yesterday and simultaneously hundreds of years ago.

I shake my head to clear it, focusing on what's in front of me instead- the dirt road, random stuff scattered all over it but the way generally clear. I finally make it back to my neighborhood, and… oh.

It's a complete mess.

There are perhaps one or two lampposts that aren't broken. Most of the houses have no windows or doors and are dirty, but there are a few that are completely demolished. Almost all the mailboxes are broken, and there isn't a sign of life to be seen.

There's nothing for me to do but walk back to my own house and hope nothing attacks me. I hear some kind of metal whirring as I get closer to my house, and I lift my gun, ready to shoot at literally whatever jumps out at me-

Oh shit, it's just Codsworth.

"Codsworth!" I shout, letting my gun drop to my side as I run up to my old handy robot.

"Ah, hello! You've returned!" he greets me, stopping mid-sidewalk to turn towards me.

"Yeah, I- I have, have you been waiting here this whole time?"

"Well of course, I didn't have anything better to do!"

"… Uh… huh. Okay. Well, what… where do I start? How long- how long was I in the vault?"

"I believe it's been about 200 years now."

Wait, what? What the fuck?

"What the fuck?" I voice my shock, gun dropping to the ground as I take in the fact that I'd been stuck in the vault for 200 whole years. That's like… two life times. A little more than two lifetimes. Unless you live to get really old. Or pass away young.

I snap out of it and return to whatever Codsworth is saying.

"… has happened over the past years, don't worry, but I can help you adjust if you need to."

"Thanks, Codsworth. Hey, has anyone else- uh- survived? At all? Like, are there any other people… anywhere?"

"Why, yes! In fact, some have tried to set up home here- ah, it didn't go very well, but they did try! I do occasionally see people and- other things- wandering by here, but most of them seem to ignore this place."

"Ah. Are there any animals here that I should know about, that might try to attack me?"

"Let me see, well- yes, there are, I'd say it's a yes from me. There are a few radroaches in some of the houses, but I can take them out with you if you want."

"Radroaches? As in the really big roaches?"

"Yes. Now they're called radroaches because they're cockroaches that have had so much radiation poisoning that they grew to bigger sizes-"

"I know, Codsworth, it's okay. You can come take them out with me," I smile, picking up my gun from the ground and walking towards one of the houses that wasn't completely destroyed.

"You'll find that a lot of animals here, in this world I mean, have been infected by the nuclear material left around and have since become either bigger, more dangerous, or both."

"Well yeah, I assumed from the- uh, radroaches," I mumble back, looking around the corners in the house in proper cop show fashion. It didn't seem to work well enough though, and Codsworth has to slice up a radroach that jumps out at me from seemingly nowhere that I definitely wasn't prepared for.

"Thanks," I gasp out, trying to recover from my mini heart attack.

We go through the house, mostly Codsworth taking care of the bugs as I loot anything that might seem useful. I don't find much, just one thing of probably poisonous food, the radroaches' meat, and a few bobby pins. As we go to the next house, I turn to Codsworth and ask, "So do you know what other animals have been irradiated, or whatever it is?"

"Not completely, no. I only saw what I could see from your neighborhood, this little sanctuary. I mostly saw radroaches, but I occasionally saw (the fuckin cow things) carrying people's stuff- those are harmless, they won't touch you- and mole rats, those are definitely harmful, stay away from those."

"What about humans? You told me there are people who survive in this wasteland, but are there any other non-animal people?" I ask, taking out a couple radroaches from outside the house.

"That I also wouldn't know. Only humans have tried to settle here so far, as nobody else- if there are other beings- have come out this far. There's not much here besides these houses and me," Codsworth replies, following me as I loot the house and the radroach corpses.

"What, um- what do I do after this? I mean, I'd love to stay here with you, but I don't think I'll survive on these supplies for very long," I comment as we move on to the next house.

"I recommend going to Concord. There would be food and possibly ammo if needed in the city, and you just might meet friendly people there who would be willing to help you out."

"Okay cool, that's- yeah, that's great, I have a plan. I have a… yeah. Luckily, I have a lil map on this neat-o device, it has places labeled and everything, wow that's awesome. Alright…" I trail off, and Codsworth and I finish clearing and looting the rest of the houses in relative silence.

"I should stock up on bullets. And probably food," I mumble, heading towards the exit of my old neighborhood.

"Return safely, and do be careful out there. Be kind to people, and if they're not kind back, run away," Codsworth gives his advice.

"Uh, thanks," I smile at him before walking around the corpse of some guy who I assume tried to settle down here- whom I also totally loot- and walk across the half-broken bridge to the rest of the world.

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yep just filler. but thx if u comment or anything, i cant reply on ff if its anon bc ff is dumb but ty anyway it totally validates me! i also have a tumblrrr, .com you can send me questions or "ur dumb" or anything! ive rlly been trying to work on this, its just school and also ive been rereading harry potter and just yeah im makin excuses but whoop i hope u enjoyed this chapter and also my unnecessarily lengthy notes! ive also been playing fallout 4. i made nick valentine hate me for a couple days on accident and i have 13 unfinished sidequests. help.


	3. Chapter 3

ok so listen i know i said that The Boys were going to be in this chapter but then the immortal dog of my life (dogmeat) came by and also i accidentally wrote a perfect ending sentence so. uh. next chapter? ive been Tryin on these chapters, it's just been tough trying to translate video game to story. ive taken some liberties when writing this, and i probs will in the future like u cant teleport n shit bc thats Fake Irl but theres a lil map on the pipboy and also back is super stronk from carrying 250 pounds. also idk where this storys rlly going, but i assume it'll be following a bit of the main quest and some of the side quests i can remember. also quotes are from the soundtrack which is great listen to it.

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 _I was walking along, minding my business,_

 _When out of the orange colored sky,_

 _Flash, bam, alacazam, Wonderful you came by._

Trying to pay attention to where you're going and be wary of radiation-scarred giant animals that might attack you is hard enough, but trying to do both in an unfamiliar world is even harder.

I manage to follow the road as best as I can, as torn up as it is, but nothing looks familiar. I have the advantage of remembering the way around like I had been cryogenically frozen just yesterday, and I also have a map on my Pipboy, but with almost everything destroyed and nobody around to ask for help, I was on my own.

I trip on a bit of road that was sticking up and I curse, managing to catch myself before I fall flat on my face and accidentally shoot myself or something dumb. Unfortunately, it seems I cussed a little too loudly and I could now hear ominous scuttling in the bushes.

"Fuck that noise," I mumble, and start jogging, not 100% keen on facing whatever that was in the bushes- out of cowardice or the knowledge that I don't have infinite bullets, I'm not sure. Probably cowardice.

I keep jogging until I'm out of breath and I reach a "Red Rocket Truck Stop". The building looks just as dilapidated as the homes in my old neighborhood, and pretty unassuming, but I slow down significantly as I approach it. There aren't any sounds coming from inside, meaning there's probably not radroaches or anything dumb that might attack me.

I'm still cautious as I approach the door, gun at the ready as I try to peer through the dirty glass, not being able to see anything- I yank open the door, and as nothing immediately attacks me, I step inside and check it out.

There seem to be a lot of empty boxes, I note with disappointment. I definitely need to find more ammo and food. There's also just- just random rubbish everywhere, piles of trash I'm not even going to bother with, like ripped up papers. I manage to find a couple containers of no doubt irradiated food, but you do what you can in a post-apocalyptic world.

I move from the little entrance room to a more spacy room that seems to be missing a wall. And that's when I notice the dog.

He's- she's?- just looking at me, so of course my first reaction is holy shit dog! Then I'm thinking... I don't know if this dog is evil. Maybe I shouldn't approach it, it could attack me.

So I approach it, holding out my hand and hoping it'll come to me and not bite any vital part of me off. It trots forward and seems friendly enough that I don't jerk my hand away when it comes to sniff at me. I cautiously put a hand on its head and start petting, and it rubs its head back against my hand. Oh, good.

"Hi there, boy- girl- dog-" I stop trying, catching sight of a collar around its neck. I check it, and it says "Dogmeat"- and nothing else. Awesome. Super helpful.

"Dogmeat?" I say tentatively, and the dog- Dogmeat- starts wagging its tail, obviously alert to the use of its name. "Dogmeat," I repeat, petting him more and smiling.

Then I hear a noise to my right that sounds suspiciously like Evil Irradiated Animal and I whip around, gun at the ready. It was for good measure, because the thing that looks like a giant mole rat has its teeth bared and looks definitely ready to attack me.

I pull the trigger on my gun automatically, but nothing comes out- I've forgotten to reload, fuck, I don't have time to reload, I think as I frantically try to replace the bullets as the gross pink thing comes bounding towards me, getting closer and closer and even those buckteeth look like they can do a lot of damage, not to mention the radiation poisoning-

Suddenly, Dogmeat leaps in front of me and sinks its teeth into the mole rat's neck, effectively killing it and saving me from what definitely would've been a slow, very painful death.

"Thanks," I mumble to Dogmeat, who gives a happy-sounding bark, while I finish reloading my gun- and just in time too, as I see more mole rat things digging themselves out of the ground outside.

"Gross," I grumble, frowning as I unload shots into the pink lumpy things trying to attack me.

I hear Dogmeat tearing into some of the other mole rats, and I silently give thanks for having someone to help me out with all the mole rats, because otherwise I would definitely be dead. Death by mole rats. Imagine.

Mid-thought, something slams into my back hard, and I go down face first, gun spinning off somewhere. As I had just seen Dogmeat tearing into another mole rat, I panic and roll over, 100% ready to punch whatever had attacked me in the face.

It turns out I panicked for perfectly good reason, as a mole rat had pounced on me. I let out grunts of frustration as I push against it, trying to keep its teeth- which look a lot more dangerous from this angle- away from any of my vitals. Its gross claws scrabble at my suit as it tries to bite me, and I thank whoever made the suits for making them impenetrable-

I hear a growl suddenly and then there's no longer a mole rat. Disoriented, I look around and see the mole rat that had been trying to attack me on the ground with part of its throat ripped out.

"Good… good dog," I grin at Dogmeat, petting him and looking around at all the mole rat corpses. Maybe mole rat meat is good for food.

After looting all the mole rat corpses, I turn to Dogmeat and say, "Do you want to come with me?" And then I realize I'm talking to a dog who probably doesn't speak English.

Dogmeat wags his tail and pants happily anyway, and I sigh, then set out again for Concord, now with a companion that'll fight with me.

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i LOVE dogmeat anyway but he's not my fave companion bc hes always getting hurt n stuck on shit, so nick valentine, a.k.a. the other love of my life, is my companion rn. anyway i need to play more of the game but also write more of this bc im so excited to write The Boys in no matter how out of character they'll probs be because i have some good fuckin quotes lined up. and also this has motivated me to write like nothing else lmao. also the "wonderful you" in the quote is dogmeat, whom i love,


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